The present subject matter relates to delivery of advertisements through a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device-independent system and method for appending advertisements in an existing SMS message before its delivery to a subscribed customer. Such a system may be implemented to reduce the overall cost of SMS to network service providers and users.
Traditionally, the cost for cellular telecommunication service has been high, especially in the United States, placing such service out of the reach of many people. The high cost still remains, if it is not increased by the cost, to obtain new devices compatible with the technology and system implemented within service provider's networks, which is not always compatible with the networks and systems utilized by other service providers. In many instances, the compatible devices are very expensive because they are equipped with additional technology necessary to support the new or advanced network features, thus further increasing the overall cost for service. Additionally, over the past few years, cellular telecommunications providers experienced a decline in the average rate per user (ARPU) for voice service over cellular telecommunications networks. The decline is attributed to the increase in use of data services (i.e., Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)) over the same network. Messaging via SMS has become the most widely used data application in the world due to the ease of use and the standard communication protocols supporting the system. The use of these data services will continue to increase due to the increase the number of messages being sent. Service providers have increased the cost for service, in particular data service, to support the greater demand and capacity on the network, and to capitalize on the usage increase.
Service providers have attempted to alleviate the rising costs to consumers by seeking ways to reduce the overall cost and to make the services more attractive, while still allowing for an increase in the service providers' revenue. For many years, service providers have offered devices at little or no cost in exchange for signing an agreement to a long-term contract. However, for many people, a long-term contract translates to an additional or higher cost for service given the early termination fee and the length of financial commitment.
Moreover, service providers have be able to offer more affordable service but the reduction in cost has been incremental and has extended to those customers who are willing to commit to higher monthly plans, requiring higher usage of the service. This solution provides a lower unit cost based on usage however the aggregate cost of the plan still makes the service unaffordable and undesirable to those who are unable to reach a high usage rate that would make the financial commitment worthwhile. Providers have sought to attract customers and to maintain a competitive edge by offering special bundle and flat-rate billing plans through a combination of voice and data plans. Again, these solutions have only attracted some customers, but have not reduced the cost for all customers. Although service providers have gained more customers with these special plans, the ARPU for data service has still declined.
Even more recently, the development of prepaid cellular services and plans has attracted more customers, providing them with an option to receive cellular service at a lower rate as needed and without special features. With this solution, service providers have achieved higher usage rate in some demographical groups, but not all.
Service providers and third parties turned to direct advertising to cellular devices as a new way to produce revenue and to gain more customers. Advertising systems implemented on cellular systems have been achieved through the use of SMS and mobile internet/Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), where advertisements are distributed through videos, text messages, search and banner displays provided to cellular devices. The advertisement systems implemented through SMS are usually offered by third party businesses in exchange for reduced or free SMS service, or for other service features.
Of these advertisement systems, one common implementation is a broadcast approach, where an advertisement message is sent to several devices at once without interaction by the user through the device, where each user might or might not be registered to receive advertisements. The broadcast approach fails because the recipient might not expect the message or the quantity of messages therefore, the unexpected message(s) becomes burdensome and obtrusive to the recipient. Other systems follow an interactive approach, where each recipient has subscribed to the advertisement service and receives advertisements by interaction with a third party service to receive discount or service. Each recipient requests or responds to the service in exchange for an advertisement. This system avoids the burden and obtrusion of the broadcast approach and ensures a greater likelihood that the message will be read however, in order to receive the benefit, the user is burdened by the extra process or the receipt of additional messages. Additionally, these systems and the like are limited because the third parties, unlike network providers, have only limited access to subscriber profiles and usage information. Access to such information would allow the third party providers to tailor advertisements that are more meaningful or relevant. Further, both systems reduce the likelihood that the recipient will read the message because the burden and obtrusion produced make a recipient more likely to ignore the advertisement. While these current advertisement solutions have generated additional revenue, they fail because the burden from an additional registration process or method of interaction outweighs any benefit received, such as the reduction in service fees or the addition of greater service features. Thus, prior solutions have fallen short.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system that enables the delivery of advertisements integrated with an SMS without the need for specialized devices or third party processes to facilitate the delivery.